I hope you can get down to the Creekside Trail.  It is absolutely breathtaking right now.

 

The maples are red and yellow, the beech trees are light brown and shimmery, the hickories are chartreuse and gold, and they are all mixed up in our woods.

 

Makes me think of Forest Bathing, shinrin-yoku.  That's a happy thought.

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

 

 

I thought you'd like to see what we did to the haybale.  Thanks to everyone who helped.

 

We repainted the haybale with 13 red and white stripes.  And the blue field with stars is a heavy piece of cardboard that I painted.  We didn't have any blue spray paint, so I had to use brush on paint, (can't do that on hay.)  Then we borrowed these statues from our friends, and located the flags from the Fourth of July.  Jon made me another sign using that chalkboard paint.  I love it.  

 

It will only stay up a week, then it will be time to think about Thanksgiving.

 

THANK YOU TO OUR VETERANS AND PATRIOTS!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Today is Veterans Day.  It is a day to honor all veterans:  all the men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of our country.  Some other countries call today Armistice Day, to commemorate the end of World War 1.  

 

There is a nice history lesson in Wikipedia if you'd like to learn more.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day?wprov=sfti1

 

I hope you are flying your flag proudly today.  We have so many people to thank for our freedoms.  

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!

 

Here I go again.  

 

I think the Maple trees may be my favorite trees in the Fall.  Well, at least they are today.  This one is just outside our North facing deck.  It has multiple trunks, and they are all changing at different rates.  It is really pretty in the sunshine.

 

I hope you are enjoying your maple trees, wherever you find them.

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

This is our beautiful cinnamon fern, getting ready to sleep for the winter.  I love watching it through the seasons.

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

Our friends, the Lachances, had a dog, Clifford, who would walk "the Loop" with us.  Riley was about 6 and Clifford was probably 12 years old.  When Clifford would fall behind, I would worry.  But Riley assured me that he knew the way home.  

 

Clifford always made the whole walk, sometimes with us and sometimes 15 minutes behind.  Slow and steady, that was Clifford's way.  And Riley was right:  he knew the way home.

 

This is the top of the first big hill on our Loop walk.  We have always called it Clifford's Hill.  We have to take it slow and steady, just like Clifford.

 

Sure is pretty right now.

 

HAPPY HIKING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Look how pretty our mountains are today.  

 

This is the view to the west from our porch.  Beautiful!!!

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

What did you do with all those rainy days?  We cooked.

 

Here is Jon kneading raisin bread, and Gizmo waiting for a raisin to escape so he can chase it around the kitchen.  

 

We have fun.  Even in the rain.

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

I hope you do something fun for Halloween.  

 

We have very fond memories of Halloween with Momma.  She would dress up like a witch, and open the big garage door.  The garage was decorated with spider webs, and spooky stuff hanging from the ceiling.  Momma used a garden fork for a claw-like hand to give out treats to brave little children.  All the neighborhood kids loved coming to our house for Halloween.  Til one year, she got egged.  That ended that.  

 

Momma was a costume designer in the theater for many years.  So, of course, I have some fabulous costumes:  a huge fabric pumpkin filled with ghost poop (styrofoam peanuts), one of Santa's elves, a witch's cape, a Princess dress complete with a jewel laden crown, butterfly wings and butterfly net, bumblebee wings, and of course the infamous ladybug ensemble.

 

We went to a party once as a giant butterfly and a Lepidopterist.  That was fun, but the space was small and my wings were huge, so I was banished to the outside.

 

Then, we were in JoAnn Fabrics around Halloween a few years ago, and they had all the Halloween costumes on sale 70% off.  So I got a ladybug outfit, probably a child's thing, cause it is a red tutu with black spots and bows.  We painted a cardboard sandwich sign for Jon to look like a bug zapper.  We tickle ourselves.

 

Anyway, dressing up like a ladybug was fun, so the next year we painted a black long sleeve shirt of Jon's with bold yellow stripes, and we visited our neighbors as a ladybug and a bumble bee.  I thought you might like to see that one.

 

Trick or treating in a mostly adult neighborhood is always interesting.  One of our treats was a bottle of champagne left from New Year's Eve.  Hahaha!!!

 

That's it for my rambling.  Maybe we will dress up and go trick or treating.  Wish me luck.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was starting to run out of ideas for the blog, so I thought about taking a little break.  Then we went for a walk in Meeks Park, and I looked up.

 

The trees are starting to change color, and our world looks beautiful!!!  So get ready for FALL pix.  

 

HAPPY  FALL Y'ALL!!!